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I must’ve been doing something really right, karmically, that is. Not only was I finding great parking spaces everywhere I went, but the email I was staring at was telling me I was part of a very exclusive fraternity:

“Hi – Wanted to let you know that you’ll be on the press list for the Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band show at SXSW. For now, details are confidential and we ask that you refrain from sharing your confirmation as tickets were very limited and unfortunately we have not been able to help everyone.”
Whew, what a relief. Ever since SXSW officials revealed that the Boss would play an Austin gig in addition to making the conference’s keynote address, it had been my major focus. Where will he play and can I get in.

In previous years there had been big name keynoters, plenty of them. Neil Young and Pete Townshend are huge, but not on the current scale of Springsteen. Young and Townshend were able to stroll around Austin, sitting in to play with other bands here and there with a minimum of craziness. But on my first day in Austin, I heard a whispered, “Someone told me Nils Lofgren has been seen in the W Hotel.” And the craziness was on.